BioGecko Issue 1 (July 2012)

Evaluation of endemic frog (Leiopelma hochstetteri) habitat through a spatial decision support system.

Abstract: Although several Leiopelma hochstetteri population studies have provided information about the habitat-use of the species, little effort has been made to
convert much of this knowledge into a model of spatial habitat value useful for planning. This work proposes a method for translating L. hochstetteri habitat-use
information into geographic digital data, which is processed with a spatial decision support system to calculate habitat suitability scores for specific areas within a
particular region. This approach has the potential to calculate Hochstetter’s frog habitat suitability scores for different locations and scenarios within a particular area
and is useful to produce habitat suitability maps. Moreover, the flexibility of this method offers the possibility of producing models for the evaluation of habitat quality
for different species around the world.